It may not be shocking news, but a new report confirms a difficult reality: Our increasingly overweight teens are not eating enough fruits and vegetables.

According to a new report in the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly journal, researchers have found that median consumption of fruits and vegetables among high schoolers in 2010 was 1.2 servings a day.

Based on a survey of nearly 10,800 students, the CDC found that 28.5 percent of high school students consumed fruit less than once a day, and 33.2 percent ate vegetables less than once a day. Only 16.8 percent ate fruit four or more times a day and 11.2 percent ate four or more servings of veggies daily, it said.

Daily fruit and vegetable recommendations for adolescents who participate in less than 30 minutes of physical activity daily are 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables for females and 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables for males, it said. A cup is roughly equal to one medium apple, eight strawberries, 12 baby carrots, or one large tomato, the CDC says.

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ABOUT THE WRITERS

TIM DARRAGH has been reporting and editing the news for 30 years, most of it at The Morning Call. For much of that time, he's been doing award-winning investigative and in-depth reporting projects. Tim created the three-year-long Change of Heart project, and wrote a series on the state's fractured food inspection system that led to widespread improvements in food safety. Meantime, that novice jogger you see plodding along the streets around Bethlehem Township? That would be Tim.